His story has come to light through records and history website Ancestry.com.au. Haythorne was born in 1894, went to school at Whanganui Collegiate, and enlisted for WWI in 1914, serving for four years. In 1920, he married Margaret, who was from Auckland, and WWII documents record them living in Manawatū when he signed up for service in 1940. Haythorne enlisted in Palmerston North and was farming in Awahuri at the time. News reports from the time of his death, of sickness, on March 8, 1945, say he and Margaret had two daughters. Haythorne died in Stalag-344 in Poland. The
New Zealand Herald in 1945 reported: “He was reported missing in the Greek campaign, but was later discovered to have taken refuge in the hills with other New Zealand troops, having volunteered to remain behind to tend wounded men whom it was impossible to evacuate.”